10 years ago – May 27, 1994

(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)

BANGOR – The task before the sixth- and seventh-graders was to find the best habitat for pine martens – but there was no single right answer, and the animals weren’t really the point.

The question was designed to get the pupils to use their advanced math skills in figuring out ways to solve a real-life problem.

Twenty-two youngsters came from as far away as Howland and Ellsworth to attend the first Regional Master Class in Math at Garland Street Middle School.

University of Maine teachers Kate Beard, Sarah Clapham and William Mackaness, assisted by Bangor school staff, introduced the pupils to geographic information systems as a tool for problem solving.

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BANGOR – John Zinck is not a shy man. He greets a new acquaintance with a broad grin that reveals a shiny gold tooth, and thrusts forward a callused hand for a firm shake.

“They call me Hobo John – I haven’t got any money and I don’t want any,” he shouts as he strides through the horse barn at Bass Park.

Bangor is the latest stop on a four- to five-week journey by a horse-drawn wagon to Prince Edward Island.

Zinck began his journey May 21 from his hometown, Rumford. His purpose is to raise money for the American Cancer Society. He accepts no money and simply hopes that those who pass him on the road will see the wooden sign hung on the back of his wagon and send a check off to their local cancer chapter.

25 years ago – May 27, 1979

BANGOR – John Bapst High School received a $137,000 present for its 50th birthday this school year from area friends and alumni.

School officials celebrated by paying off the school’s debt and planning some long overdue maintenance projects for the mastodon-like building on Broadway in Bangor.

Principal Joseph Sekera, the father of five children he hopes can attend what is one of Maine’s last private Catholic high schools, feels people are finally convinced that John Bapst is here to stay after a perilous decade.

Enrollment has increased 50 percent to 310, although it does not approach the 600 students enrolled in the mid-1960s.

Sekera attributes the sharp enrollment increase since 1970 to a reaction against public education, as well as renewed confidence in the school’s ability to survive following the shutdown of Dow Air Force Base and other forces that threatened to close it.

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HAMPDEN – “I’d prefer to promise little and produce much,” said Ronald M. Ansin of Fitchburg, Mass., as he announced his pending purchase of the L.B. Evans’ Sons Co. in Hampden and Wakefield, Mass.

At 138 years old, Evans is the oldest continuously operating shoe manufacturing firm in the United States.

Ansin, owner of several footwear corporations, hoped Harvey B. Evans, president, could turn over the local 80-employee plant by the end of June. The sale price was not disclosed; however, the company’s net worth is estimated to be $1 million, with a weekly payroll of $10,000.

The factory annually produces 1 million pairs of high quality men’s slippers.

50 years ago – May 27, 1954

BANGOR – Dr. Mason Trowbridge of Ellsworth spoke on “The Random Era in Medicine” at a meeting of the Bangor Maternal Health League held at the home of Mrs. Robert Kellogg on Kenduskeag Avenue.

Dr. Trowbridge said that doctors must look at the whole picture when prescribing for a patient. He felt that agencies and the medical profession must work together to give complete care with special attention to the aspect of mental health. Dr. Trowbridge said that he felt a great deal more attention should be given to mental health than has been in the past.

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BREWER – “A woodsman never really gets used to living in the city” – at least that’s what Leonard Smith of Washington Street in Brewer, claims.

“Smitty,” as he is called ’round the Brewer City Hall, has been trying to get used to it for the past five years while employed as a caretaker at the building and the library.

His career of the 50-odd years in the woods included a stint as a guide, water patrolman for the forest service and work with a logging crew, and he’s had more than one brush with death in the tall pine country.

“Well, when I was 14 I went to work helping my uncle as a guide. My first job was handling a baggage canoe, which carried extra supplies for a party of sportsmen from Philadelphia. I was born in Chesuncook so it wasn’t unusual to be at home in the woods at 14. I’ve spent a good part of my life in a canoe and I was only swamped once.”

He went on to talk about changes in the woods.

“Of course, today there are many changes. I saw some of them. I only remember seeing two teams of oxen being used to haul logs, but I did see the tractor come in to replace the horse for hauling logs.”

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ORRINGTON – The State Highway Commission, under the supervision of Earl Bartlett of Bangor, district highway engineer, is making a thorough study of 1,500 feet of highway on the Brewer Lake Road, when a section 150 feet long settled Friday night, May 14, making the road impassable. It will be another 10 days or two weeks before any decision will be made as to whether the road will be abandoned and a new road built on firm ground, or if the project will be finished over the existing roadbed.

Dr. Hamilton Gray, soil engineer of the University of Maine, is supervising sounding over the roadbed as well as the study of the soil materials under it.

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BANGOR – The annual concert and ball of the Bangor Police Relief Association will be held tonight at the auditorium on lower Main Street and the occasion is regarded as a highlight of the spring season.

About 2,000 advance ticket sales have been made and a capacity audience is indicated for the ball which will feature six vaudeville acts followed by general dancing.

On the stage program are Ferendis, perfectionist in balance; Sharon O’Neal, the Variety Miss; Jim Jedery, billed as “surprises with Little Eddie Kelly;” Lew Fitz, melody man; Bob Robinson, the master of ceremonies; and Stanley and Joan Kayne, a comedy team.

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BANGOR – Five hundred and fifteen Bangor area children in the second grade who have received two doses of polio vaccine will be given their third and final shot June 7, 8 or 9, it was announced by William Carney, Bangor city health planner.

Mr. Carney, who is general chairman for the tests for the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis in this area, reported that not a single participating child to date has suffered any ill effects from the two shots already received. The “booster” shot will be of the same size and content as the previous two, he declared. It is this booster shot which should throw the switch on cells in the bloodstream, putting them into production of large quantities of polio-fighting antibodies.

“If the current vaccine tests are faithfully supported by the public right up through the third shot,” said John E. Flynn, chairman of the Penobscot chapter, said, “and if subsequent analysis of results shows success, it may show the way to a future free of the haunting fear of polio.”

100 years ago – May 27, 1904

ORONO – A concert that gave great pleasure to all who were present was held in the Universalist church by the Ladies’ Aid Society. The church was beautifully decorated with flowers and ferns, and was very cool and fragrant. The new Temple Quartet of Bangor, assisted by Miss Mary Winslow Bartlett, rendered delightful music, every number eliciting enthusiastic applause.

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BREWER – The Brewer High School has been placed on the approved list of the New England colleges. The privilege is a great honor as it ranks the local high school with the best in the state.

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BANGOR – Panos G. Ginieres, a native of Athens, Greece, and a student at Bangor Theological Seminary, will deliver his lecture on “The Glory of Greece” in the Brewer High School building. Some excellent views will be shown, which promise to be very beautiful.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin